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This program....

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    This program....

    has more "bugs" than the CIA headquarters. Just spent about 20 minutes on a form letter. Then went to spell check it. Everything froze so that I had to ignore it and lost all that work. (See my other posts about other problems I've had).I now remember a friend of mine that had Alpha 4 several years ago and when I considered buying it he told me that it was full of bugs that would drive me crazy. He was right...
    Now I'll start getting all the responses telling me how great Alpha is.
    Maybe it is to you but not me. Access is harder to set up originally but at least it works once you get it the way you want it.
    Sorry just my 2 cents worth

    #2
    RE: This program....

    Actually, no, Alpha does not have a lot of bugs. Alpha is one of the few software companies that actually fixes bugs in a reasonable amount of time. I also get crashes when I am developing. Usually they are due to something I did. If you are new to the program you are probably more likely to do things that will crash Alpha. This isn't really Alpha's fault. They can't protect for all errors. As far as running the probgram from a user perspective it is pretty solid.
    That said, Alpha isn't perfect, but it is an exceptional product which for a business user can return many times its cost in day to day use.

    IMHO
    Russ

    Comment


      #3
      RE: This program....

      Sorry to disagree with you but if you can't even do a simple task like spell check then this software is not for the masses as it is advertised i.e. easy to use. easy to set up etc.

      Comment


        #4
        RE: This program....

        Jim,

        How about posting a copy of your database along with a detailed description of how to reproduce the problem you are experiencing.

        You will discover two things with certainty...

        1. Many of the forum members will be eager to assist you in determining the cause of the problem and a solution to solve it and...

        2. If a real "bug" does exist, the Alpha staff will resolve it in no time.

        Granted...Alpha5 is not perfect, but given a "fair" opportunity, makes Access/Microsoft pale in comparison.

        Louis Nickerson
        ASMIAP! Software

        Comment


          #5
          RE: This program....

          To Louis:

          2. If a real "bug" does exist, the Alpha staff will resolve it in no time.

          Well, that's true for v6, but rather doubtful for v5...

          To Jim:
          However, whether you like it or not Jim, you are very very wrong. v5 has very few bugs. The cause of your problem could be anything, really. But you are right that A4 may have had lots of bugs. But that was a long time ago, and Alpha has gotten sooooo much better. Do what you want, but you might try Lois's suggestion about posting your db.

          -Peter
          Peter
          AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

          [email protected]
          https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


          Comment


            #6
            RE: This program....

            If it were a single problem I would not be as concerned (or as sceptical) but if you read my other post it was a single cell (in a single record)in a table that would not take a simple phone mask (all the others worked fine). I could see if none of them worked but why just one. I would say I've had probably 8 of these nagging little problems. Not a major issue but they become very time consuming added together. Also my DB is very basic so it's not that I'm trying to do more than Alpha (or I ) can handle. One table set, one form nothing exotic.

            Comment


              #7
              RE: This program....

              I recall the other thread.

              If you care to upload (or e-mail) a copy of the database maybe we can see something you don't.

              -- tom

              Comment


                #8
                RE: This program....

                Peter,

                You just made me nervous about your comment that it's doubtful Alpha will support v5... now that I found a problem (post 75099). No wonder nobody really helped me...

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: This program....

                  Supposedly they will come out w. another patch. I think they made that promise a few months ago. But I haven't seen it. Eventually they may revist v5 and provide a patch or two. But all their attention and energy is focused on v6.


                  BTW: Unfortunately one cannot search this site using the Msg. ID.
                  Peter
                  AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

                  [email protected]
                  https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: This program....

                    Hi Jim,

                    There is lots you can say about this issue.
                    I guess you could start by comparing it with driving a car with a trailer. Almost everybody can drive straight ahead, but it suddenly gets difficult when you needs to drive backwards and do a special performance at the same time....
                    Who then would go to the manufacturer of the car and tell him his car ain't no good ?

                    Certainly Alpha Five is not without errors.
                    And to those of you who say there are only a few left I would say: check again!
                    For instance, embedded browses.... supposed to be fixed in V5, then supposed to be fixed in V6, now supposed to be fixed in V6. Nobody knows when it actually will be.

                    BUT: do you know of any other product that IS without error?
                    Isn't that the first thing you have to learn, that no software ever is without error ?
                    Bill Gates 'himself' told us his company would not be able to produce flawless software the next 100 years.....
                    And look at the resources they have !
                    Then again look at the resources Alpha has and re-think the error-issue.
                    Of course, there could be done MORE to resolve the existing errors, but then again, NOBODY else in the market does !
                    So what do you expect ?

                    Did you ever visit the forums of other products and read overthere what they are suffering with ? You should.

                    However, I do not totally disagree with you, I just wanted to place things in perspective. Maybe you expect to much.
                    Maybe you should consider workarounds instead of stumbling over existing errors.
                    As already said in other reactions, when you upload your problems (which would not be a lot of work as you yourself say it is straight forward work) then others COULD actually help!

                    Now again in your defense:
                    To all of you who always say that Alpha is reacting so fast to problems....
                    I wonder if you ever thought about it that this might not be so good after all.
                    Once I saw 3 patches being released on the same day....
                    Is that how it should be ?
                    Stumble over your own feet in a hurry to help the customer?
                    Or would it be better to to it thouroughly and only once a day....

                    As said, there are a lot of aspects to this issue.
                    Some I support, other I do not.
                    At the end, Alpha Five is as I see it a perfect product for non-programmers or those with less experience that has bugs, but maybe less then other products and with a very very active forum where you can actually meet people that are willing to help you.
                    I still think it is the best deal considering all of this.
                    Maybe for expert programmers that do not depend to much on action scripting etc. and like more native access to other databases, and who would like to see stuff like project management and helpdocument creating functions, other products would be preferrable, but that is an individual choice.

                    Regards,

                    Marcel

                    Comment


                      #11
                      RE: This program....

                      I really don't think that there are that many bugs, or then again maybe I have just gotten use to them. But as far as browses go, they are a bug! And I gave said so again and again and again - LOUD AND CLEARLY. And I agree, they were promised to be fixed for v5, v6 and now v7. But it is counter-productive do be too negative, so I have shut up complaining about browses. But let it be noted for the record: if browses aren't fixed in v7 ("the far off future"), we're going to the mattresses - and Don Vito will be making a call on the House of Alpha!
                      Peter
                      AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

                      [email protected]
                      https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


                      Comment


                        #12
                        RE: This program....

                        I'm kind of hoping that the "far off future" is like next summer. I sure could use the reworked browses.

                        Russ

                        Comment


                          #13
                          RE: This program....

                          I'd like to look at this from another viewpoint.

                          Jim is not the only guy out there who is trying this software for the first time. Unfortunately, his reaction is probably not atypical - somebody runs into a problem, real or perceived, and immediately decides that the software is no good.

                          I can't fault them for this; I've had similar reactions to other software myself.

                          Alpha is a great product but there are still a number of things in it that require either a work-around or learning to avoid the issue or, in some cases, just learning to put up with it. (Call 'em bugs, gotchas, glitches, or anything else - they do exist.) I can't think of any show-stoppers once you know how to deal with them but for new users, and especially for someone thinking of switching from another database that they are already familiar with, they can certainly be a "deal killer." For the benefit of Alpha and all the developers that make a living with Alpha (i.e., need new customers), I'd like to see Alpha getting a lot of new users and I'm concerned that these little "gotchas" are chasing away too many potential users. And every one of those people that gets chased away is going to tell his/her friends about how bad their experience with A5 was - not a good thought. (Just today I heard of an Access user who was ready to give up on the switch to A5 but just happened to talk directly to another A5 developer who was able to help him out. That's one saved - at least temporarily. How many others have been missed??)

                          I know it's not nearly as much fun but I'd like to see Alpha take a break from new features and concentrate more on fixing some of these things that might chase away new users. Of course, the first part of that is to identify the issues - we can't expect something to be fixed if nobody knows there's a problem. Selwyn and company are usually good about fixing something that is identified but some of these issues aren't easy to pin down. (Yes, I've started a list of my own issues but even that will take some time and they will all have to be verified before I will submit anything.)

                          Cal Locklin
                          www.aimsdc.net

                          Comment


                            #14
                            RE: This program....

                            Cal

                            You make some good points. I have worked in service industries for most of my working life, and the first need in solving any problem is understanding and duplicating the problem. Even if a problem is found and identified, then a solution must be found that is possible to implement.

                            I think there are two issues here. Many times on this forum and others, the report is "the program doesn't work" with little or no detail or any method to try to duplicate. I have been surprised many times by problem that appeared very serious and turned out to be a simple syntax error, like double underscores in a name. When problems are clearly defined and samples are present to duplicate the error, most errors can be identifed.

                            The second issue is determining if a fix is possible or reasonable. I think this is the issue with browses. Selwyn has posted many times that the core issue is the structure of the browse object and almost any fix required a complete rewrite of the object. Since this is such a core component, when a rewrite comes out, it will have to be bulletproof and also fit into future design stategies. I know of one "bug" that has existed since A5V1, but when I looked at the nature of the bug and the level of obscurity (no one has ever mentioned it on the forum) the effort to eradicate it would be huge with little return.

                            I hope the browse object is finally fixed in a future release, although I have very little trouble with browses. I even use them for data entry. But I am careful about the details and don't expect them to work in all situations.

                            Jerry

                            Comment


                              #15
                              RE: This program....

                              Cal & others,

                              There is always a fine line between being a cheerleader on one hand and a critic on the other. I've been both. Yes, Alpha is the greatest. It also has some bugs and idiosyncrasies. I agree, too many times newbies pan Alpha based upon a one time or one issue problem, and thereby assume that Alpha is a no good buggy product when just the opposite is true. Unfortunately, if newbies are �chased away�, there�s not much that any of us can do other than suggest a remedy for their issue. And if they don�t like it, well, so be it. You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink

                              -Peter
                              Peter
                              AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

                              [email protected]
                              https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


                              Comment

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